Magatsu Ikebukuro
by Kurohou
Summary: The skies of Inaba are shrouded in the everlasting fog of sadness and misery, as well as confusion. But just when the deaths of Namatame and Nanako seemed like the end, another life is lost and another mystery arises - and the only clue leads to Ikebukuro
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **

**Indeed, leaving me in my rural hometown with weird weather and nothing to watch but Durarara! has some hazardous effects. This is my first (published) fic in a while, and my first Durarara fic as well. (It's also my first non-Ace Attorney one, but that's irrelevant)**

**I hope my first year of High School actually taught me something. -Kurohou**

**P.S. PERSONA 4 ENDGAME SPOILERS AND DURARARA ANIME SPOILERS~ BE WARNED!  
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><p>In Inaba, the smell of rain becomes the smell of everything. It mixes into our lives, and becomes important to everyone. The rain has even shaped the town itself.<p>

Flood plains, crops, merchandising and the clothes sold at retail stores.

It's the simplisitc country life here, ever-present wherever you go.

And I'm sick of it.

I'm sick of the people, I'm sick of the place. I'm really just sick of everything.

Nothing good ever goes on here, and there is never any action. Just useless soap opera style drama between the teenagers at Yasogami high or the housewives at the local market. It's pathetic. It's boring. Nothing I do can change the bland lifestyle in the town that is Inaba.

You could say Namatame was a waste of time, and that I quickly lost interest in that one kid. I mean, he was the one who dumped Namatame into a television. Not exactly an act to look up to, but I would have done that myself.

Though I guess it does feel kind of good to see Dojima in pain. There is just one thing missing, though. I don't know what it is.

It's 5 AM. We've been investigating on some stupid murder for hours, to no avail. I hand the depressed detective his 6th cup of coffee. He complains that it's not hot enough, but gulps it down regardless.

Is this what "losing a loved one" is like? How pathetic.

He tosses it at a garbage bin and ends up hitting a cat instead.

_Was he even aiming?_

8 AM. The hours we've spent are leaving their marks under my eyes. I yawn as I finish my breakfast - a small pack of crackers. Dojima downs his 10th cup.

Makes me wish I brought poison with me to just end this.

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><p>There are still no leads here.<p>

_Why are we still searching?_

_What exactly are we looking for?_

I know what I'm looking for: _Opportunities_. But we don't have those in Inaba.

Dojima complains about us not having forensic tools like Aluminum Fingerprint Powder or Luminol and stuff. I don't really care. I'm that guy staring at the chalk outline of the body and thinking _"Hey. We won't find anything related to this case, okay, old man?"_

I wouldn't exactly call this irony, but the cat that Dojima hit a few hours ago passed by at that very moment, and smudged the chalk outline a bit when I shooed it away. 

It dropped something on the ground, too. An ID, blood splattered on it.

I pick it up, disgusted a bit, and approach the man who was now finishing his 11th cup. 

"Detective Dojima, I think I found something! Maybe we could have forensics run a test to see if the blood matches the victim's..."

By forensics, I mean that filthy rich detective kid with the hots for Dojima's nephew. Remember, this is Inaba. There is nothing good in Inaba.

Dojima snatches the ID and examines it, clearly he didn't listen to what I just said. I'm sure he was thinking the same thing, anyway, and wouldn't like to acknowledge that I was an equal (if not smarter) human being.

"...If anything's certain, this isn't the victim's ID."

I glance over Dojima's shoulder to get a glimpse at what the ID says. There's a picture of a blond kid, grinning stupidly.

"Kida Masaomi...? Raira Academy...**Ikebukuro**?"

Remember how I said there are no Opportunities in Inaba? Maybe I'm a bit wrong. Just a bit.

But I'm pretty sure there are a lot in Ikebukuro.

I cross my fingers and hope this piece of evidence is relevant to the case.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter is written in Mikado's POV, just so you know. The POV of the fanfiction will be constantly changing, as to get different views on the same events, but I hope it won't be too confusing...**

**-Kuro**

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><p>"...You're going back here...? When?" <p>

I sound as excited as a little kid. Actually, I'm sure I really sounded this way before. Kida's chuckle justifies the case.

...But there's just something wrong about it.

"I'm actually on the train right now."

"...What?"

Okay. _Calm down, Mikado_. You should be surprised that he didn't call to say:_ "Oh hey, I'm in front of your house right now. And I brought some porn~"_

__

_"Wait. No, he has a girlfriend, so... "_

I ponder over the situation while I respond to Kida without thinking. I'm just hoping he doesn't take advantage of the situation.

"...Just pick me up at the station, okay?"

"Alright."

"Tell me everything that's happened while I was gone."

"...What about your girlfriend?"

"...She...wanted to stay in Inaba."

There's an unsure pause in his answer. This isn't good.

Maybe they broke up or something. That's probably why he wanted to come here right away. I'm starting to feel sad for Kida, since this was probably his first actual relationship.

"Oh, okay. Sorry..."

"...I'll just...tell you more about it when I get there, okay? I'll be crashing at your place, so prepare a futon for me."

_****_

_**Click.**_

He hung up on me right away.

I have this gut feeling that it may have been something worse than just a break-up. Maybe she was cheating on him...? I shake these thoughts away.

"_No. These are private matters."_

There was a spare futon in a closet I used for storage. It smelled pretty dusty, but I'm sure Kida wouldn't mind.

"...I should get some groceries."

Okay. Um, Living alone means not being able to talk to anyone, and not getting any calls from my friends just worsened everything...so I've formed this funny habit of talking to myself.

I would argue and scold myself from time to time, and read my messages out loud in chatrooms before I sent them. But there's a good reason for the latter, really. I don't like typo errors.

"_One good example would be..."_

I boot my computer and open up a .txt file hidden deep within my hard drive that I filled with my many internet blunders. Don't ask why, but I saved these to remind myself to double- no. Triple-check.

__

_Let's hope Kida doesn't find this file._

"Ngh."

I cringe as I glance at my latest error. It's probably what made Anri stop texting me for a few days.

**~Yoho Messenger Autosave~**

****

**Sonohara_Anri:** I didn't know you had a Yoho account. ( o n o )

**Ryugamine_Mikado: **Hi Sonohara-san !

**Ryugamine_Mikado:** How's your summer going? ( o u o )

**Sonohara_Anri:** Fine. It's pretty boring, since I don't know what else to do but surf the internet.

**Ryugamine_Mikado:** I see...

**Ryugamine_Mikado: **Do you want to bang at my place, then?

**Sonohara_Anri:** ...

_Sonohara_Anri has logged out of Yoho Messenger_

**Ryugamine_Mikado: **Ah, I meant "hang"! IT was a

**Ryugamine_Mikado**: ...Typo error.

_Ryugamine_Mikado has logged out of Yoho Messenger_

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the short chapter, but anyway...Can you see the Atlus reference?~ **

**That aside, the porn thing was an in-joke between me and a friend. I might write about it, when I actually get the skills.**

**The next chapter is going to be from the Protagonist's POV. I think I won't be referring to him by name, as people make a big deal out of it (Seta Souji, Yu Narukami...etc)**_  
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	3. Chapter 3

"...Well, Adachi. This is it, the trip you've been waiting for."

Uncle Dojima forces a grin, and Adachi does the same. The latter's excitement, however, was genuine. I sigh and exchange looks with Yosuke.

My uncle shifts his attention to me. 

"Are you sure you'll be okay, kid? I'm leaving you in charge while I'm gone."

I respond with a nod. I'm not really what you'd call the talkative type, you see. And although people may say I'm very expressive, it doesn't quite show on my face. This is actually a good thing, especially for situations where I have to lie...such as now. I mean, I really don't have anything to be in charge of.

First of all, there's nothing to keep my eyes on except the house itself. Ever since Nanako passed on...Well, there's obviously been something missing.

Second...I don't intend to stay in the house at all. For a good reason, too.

"S-sir, I think we should get on the train..."

"Okay, calm down, Adachi."

Uncle tosses his cigarette in a nearby trash bin and picks up his suitcase.

"...Take care."

He looks concerned, then he turns around and walks to the train. Adachi follows after him.

Yosuke turns his back on them when they're out of sight.

"...Junes, then?"

I nod once more.

"Let's go, partner."

We're at the Junes food court for the first time since...you know when.

Everyone still wears frowns on their faces, and no one minds the fact that I'm not. Eyes turn to Rise, who was the reason why we all gathered here in the first place.

"Are you completely sure...?" Chie asks, uncertain whether the first year student's explanation over the phone would suffice.

By the looks of everyone, it didn't.

"Of course I'm sure. I saw that monument the last time I went there...the only other place I've seen with that sign was New York!"

Rise is frustrated. Her fellow first-year students decide to back her up. At least, Naoto does. Kanji's "What if the next victim is an American?" idea seemed quite impossible.

"Well, I trust Kujikawa-san." The detective says, brushing her bangs to the side with her hand. "...Even if all of the other people were residents of Inaba, the chances of the next victim coming from a different area of Japan is much more possible than...Tatsumi-san's statement."

Kanji frowns. Having Naoto disagree with him so much must have been a bullet through the heart.

"But...Ikebukuro? Really?"

Chie isn't convinced. Yosuke attempts to calm her down a bit, to no avail. Yukiko feels sorry for him and decides to speak up.

"What if...Namatame wasn't the killer...? Don't you think it's ironic that another murder was committed the same way as previous victims, and that the suspect is in Ikebukuro...?"

"But no one saw her on the Midnight Channel."

"...No one even bothered to check the Midnight Channel until the murder!" Yukiko exclaims, looking straight at Chie. She covers her mouth shortly after and apologizes for her sudden outburst.

"...That idea is...not too far-fetched." Naoto says, still pondering on the situation a bit.

"I say only a few of us go." Kanji mutters. Rise nods.

"Yeah. I'd totally go with senpai~" Rise says, clinging to my arm. I choose not to respond as usual.

Everyone glares at her. This wasn't exactly the best time to be joking around. She pouts.

"Fine." she mutters "But I guess you'll still be needing me. I have all these contacts in Ikebukuro."

"Why don't all of the senpais go? I mean, they know a lot more about the murders than us."

Naoto gives Kanji another stern look for his statement, and Rise laughs.

"...Saying that because it doesn't make sense to you anymore, Kanji-kun?~"

Naoto sighs. "His idea actually sounds good." She mutters just loud enough for everyone to hear. Yukiko frowns.

"Oh but I...have to stay at the inn."

"We understand, Yukiko."

"So it's just you, me, and Chie, partner." Yosuke says , glancing at me."Just like when we first ventured into the TV world, huh?"

Chie stands up and slams the table.

"Alright, so...Yosuke and I will ask for permission from our parents. We'll head for Ikebukuro ASAP. "

"Okay. Assuming we _do _get permission to go to Ikebukuro, Chie...Where will we stay?"

"We'll...well...that's..."

"I'm one step ahead of you guys!" Rise exclaims, grinning. "You're lucky. I mean, not everyone gets to stay at Hanejima Yuhei's place."

"H-HANEJIMA YUHEI?" 

All of the other girls, Naoto included, are standing in shock, mouths agape. Everyone else in the food court is staring at us.


End file.
